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Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was a single seat combat aircraft used by Germany and many of her allies during World War II.The Bf 109 was 8.64m (24' 4.5") long and had a wingspan of 9.87m (32' 4.5"); it had a height of 2.50m (8' 2.33") and weighed 2665kg (5875lb) when loaded. It was normally powered by a single 876kW (1175hp) Daimler-Benz DB 601 Aa inverted V-12 liquid cooled engine, this allowed the fighter to travel at a maximum speed of 560km/h (or 348mph) at a range of 660km (roughly 410 miles), the the fighter had a service ceiling of10,500 meters (34,450 feet), but the oil-cooled design left the engine far more vulnerable to damage than the air-cooled designs of later fighters. The 109E; the first major production model, had an armament of two 7.92mm machine guns in the nose and two 20mm cannons in the wings. The armamants, engines, and armor varied by model type and were changed to suit mission requirements as the war progressed. Robert Jackson, Jim Winchester. Dogfight: Military Aircraft Compared and Contrasted. Amber Books Ltd (2006), ISBN 978 0 7607 8169 2 William Green, Gordon Swanborough. The Complete Book of Fighters. Salamander Books Ltd (2001), ISBN 0 84065 269 1 The Bf 109 was the mainstay of the Luftwaffe through the war, with Germany never being able to produce the Fw 190 in sufficient numbers to replace it. The Fw 190 was by most accounts, a superior aircraft. Early History The Bf 109 was conceived in the summer of 1934, when the German Air Ministry (RLM) issued a requirement for a single seat interceptor fighter monoplane to replace the obsolescent Heinkel He 51 and Arado Ar 68 biplanes then in service.Green, William. Famous Fighter of the Second World War. Book Club Associates (1979) The issuing of the requirement was partly due to a disagreement between Obstlt Wilhelm Wimmer, an influential official in the RLM technical department, and Willi Messerschmitt & Rakan Kokothaki, directors of Beyerische Flegzeugwerke (BFW), during which Wimmer complained about BFW concentrating on producing aircraft for foreign countries. Messerschmitt responded by pointing out that BFW had been forced to seek outside orders in order for the company to survive, due to the lack of orders from Wimmer's department.Antony L. Kay, J. R. Smith. German Aircraft of the Second World War. Putnam Aeronautical Books (2002), ISBN 0 85177 920 4''This may have been due to distrust of Messerschmitt's designs within the RLM, following crashes involving examples of the M29 Light aircraft and the M20 passenger plane.Nowarra, Heinz. Aircraft & Legend Messerschmitt Bf 109, English Edition. Haynes Publishing Group (1989), ISBN 0 85429 729 4 Four manufacturers were subsequently awarded development contracts; Arado for the Ar 80, Beyerische Flegzeugwerke for the Bf 109, Ernst Heinkel A.G. for the He112 and Focke-Wulf for the Fw 159. The Focke-Wulf used the new and relativly untried Jumo 210A engine producing 610hp, while the others used the more reliable Rolls Royce Kestral V rated at 695hp. The Bf109V1, bearing factory number 758 and civil registration D-IABI, was completed in the summer of 1935.Famous Fighters of the Second World War by William Green, Book Club Associates The Bf 109V1 made it's first flight in the hands of Hans-Dietrich Knoetzsch at Augsburg-Haunstetten on May 28th, with further test flights before the aircraft was flown to the experimental test centre at at Rechlin on October 15th.Scutts, Jerry. Combat Legend Messerchmitt Bf 109. Airlife Books (2002), ISBN 1 84037 364 4 Other operators *'Japan''' ** Recieved up to 13 Bf 109E-3s and E7s during 1940 and 1941.Website detailing Non Japanese Aircraft flown by the Japanese during World War 2 *'Russia' ** Purchased 5 Bf109Es during 1940, and acquired other examples through capture after Operation Barbarossa.Scutts, Jerry. Combat Legend Messerchmitt Bf 109. Airlife Books (2002), ISBN 1 84037 364 4 References - Category:German Aircraft Category:Fighters Category:Aircraft